There is an increasing need for hydrocarbons suitable as liquid fuels as such, particularly as transportation fuels, or compatible with said fuels. Biofuels are typically manufactured from starting materials originating from renewable sources including oils and fats from plants, animals, algae, fish, and various waste streams and sewage sludge. The starting material is hydroprocessed in one or more steps to yield hydrocarbons.
Tall oil materials, such as crude tall oil may be used as starting materials in hydroprocessing. Tall oil materials are mixtures of a wide range of various compounds and they also contain hydrophilic components. Tall oil materials typically comprise compounds containing double bonds, which react readily under hydroprocessing conditions and yield polymeric compounds, which decrease hydrocarbon yields and cause catalyst inactivation. These events necessitate frequent shut-downs of the process and increases significantly the costs.
Despite the ongoing research and development of processes for the manufacture of liquid fuels, there is still a need to provide an improved process for producing hydrocarbons useful as liquid fuels or fuel blending components, from tall oil materials.